After thinking on it a little bit I decided to enter a second post to explain my reasoning for the M60. A LOT has to do with what you're doing in the woods. If you're walking along a quiet wooded trail with your dog then you can pretty much pack anything. If you go off trail, hike extensively, or are actually doing work (firewood etc) you do not want to be packing around a 3lb pistol. To me my woods guns need to be easy to maintain (stainless), accurate, and easy to carry. It should also be powerful enough when it's called for but also small enough to be pleasant to shoot. If injured off trail or lost, a good woods gun can be a life saver when signaling to search parties. This means loud enough to hear but small enough that extra rounds don't weigh you down needlessly. I can't speak for anywhere else but here in the West people die when they get lost in the woods. The 3" M60 seems almost to have been designed around those criteria.